Consumers today are able to chose from a wide variety of devices, events and facilities that provide acoustic and/or visual stimulation (collectively herein xe2x80x9cacoustic/visual stimulatorsxe2x80x9d). Other facilities and forms of recreational activity, such as skiing and amusement parks, are also available.
Referring first to acoustic/visual stimulators, current acoustic/visual stimulators include, but are not limited to, electronic devices such as computer, hand-held device or console-based video games and educational programs, cinemas, televisions, compact disk and audio cassette players, digital video disk and video cassette players, electronic books, and MP3 players, while new electronic devices are introduced all of the time. Live theater, concerts and museums are other types of acoustic/visual stimulators.
In recent years, there have been many attempts to increase the level of stimulation provided by acoustic/visual stimulators beyond mere acoustic and visual stimulation. Virtual reality rides, where riders are placed within a compartment that moves in concert with the acoustic and visual stimulation, are one example of such attempts to augment conventional acoustic/visual stimulators.
Another way to increase the level of stimulation provided by acoustic/visual stimulators is to deliver scents that correspond to the acoustic and visual stimulation. Currently proposed scent delivery systems involve the use of a device that houses scent materials and delivers the scents as appropriate. A base set of scent xe2x80x9cprimitivesxe2x80x9d are stored and mixed as needed by the systems to generate the desired scent. The inventors herein have determined that there are a number of factors inhibiting the economical commercial development of these systems. For example, the development of accurate scent primitives and a scent description language that can be used by a storage and mixing apparatus to accurately produce scents is likely to be quite expensive, as is development of the storage and mixing apparatus itself.
Turning to other forms of recreational activity, many of these activities require the use of tickets and other devices which meter participation (all such devices are referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cticketxe2x80x9d for simplicity). Tickets are also used for buses, movies and the like. Many tickets are intended to allow the user to participate in a particular activity a number of times. At ski lifts, for example, a lift ticket will typically be configured such that it can be xe2x80x9cpunchedxe2x80x9d each time the user rides the ski lift. The inventors herein have determined that conventional tickets, as well as the conventional methods of xe2x80x9cpunchingxe2x80x9d the tickets, are susceptible to improvement.
Accordingly, one object of the present inventions is to provide apparatus that avoids, for practical purposes, the aforementioned problems in the art. In particular, one object of the present inventions is to provide a scent storage device that will be convenient, easy to use, accurate and inexpensive. Another object of the present inventions is to provide a device that may be used to, for example, selectively activate predetermined portions of a scent material supply. Still another object of the present inventions is to provide improved tickets and ticket punching methods.
In order to accomplish some of these and other objectives, a scent storage device in accordance with one embodiment of a present invention includes a base member and a plurality of scent channels carried by the base member. Each scent channel include a scent material supply and a scent activation system that selectively activates predetermined portions of the scent material supply. The scent material in each of the channels may, for example, produce a different scent.
The present scent storage device has a wide variety of applications. One application is in combination with an acoustic/visual stimulator such as a computer based video game. Here, the scent storage device would be relatively small (i.e. about the size of trading card so that it could be easily packaged with the game software) and store a variety of different pre-mixed scent materials in the respective scent channels. The scents produced by the scent materials correspond to events that take place during the game. The scent storage device may be connected to a scent delivery device that will cause the scent activation system for each channel to active the scent material in that channel as appropriate. For example, one of the channels may store a smoke scent. When an explosion occurs in the game, the computer will instruct the scent delivery device to cause the activation system with the smoke scent supply channel to activate a portion of the scent material supply and release the scent material.
Given its relatively small size, the aforementioned embodiment of the present scent storage device advantageously allows it to be easily carried by the user. Thus, it may be handed out to patrons as they enter movie theaters, live theaters, concerts, museums or virtual reality rides. They may then simply carry their scent storage device to their seat or to an particular exhibit and insert it into an appropriate delivery device. The present scent storage device may also be given away as a promotional item for advertising purposes.
In addition to its portability, the present scent storage device also provides a number of advantages over the currently proposed scent delivery systems. For example, the present storage device is simple, self-contained and relatively inexpensive. It does not require the development of scent primitives, a device to mix them, and scent description language to control the mixing process, as do the currently proposed systems. Additionally, because the scents are predefined and the scent material stored in its final state, the present scent storage device allows the scents to be perfected prior to manufacturing, as opposed to having to be mixed on the fly from scent primitives, as in the currently proposed systems.
In order to accomplish some of these and other objectives, a ticket in accordance with a preferred embodiment of a present invention includes a discolorable member and a discoloration system carried by the base member, initially configured such that the discoloration system selectively discolors a first predetermined portion of the discolorable member in response to the application of a first energy pulse without discoloring a second predetermined portion of the discolorable member.
Such a ticket may be xe2x80x9cpunchedxe2x80x9d by, for example, simply inserting the ticket into a device that provides an energy pulse. The resulting discoloration will provide visual feedback that is particularly useful in, for example, measured fare applications such as tickets for buses, ski lifts and amusement parks. Both the consumer and the operator will be able to readily determine how many fares, lifts or amusement rides remain on the ticket by simply reviewing the ticket.
In order to accomplish some of these and other objectives, a resistor array in accordance with one embodiment of a present invention includes a series of spaced first conductor members, a series of initially substantially non-conductive switches connecting adjacent first conductor members to one another, a second conductor member, and a series of resistors extending from respective first conductive members to the second conductor member. In one embodiment, the resistors may be configured such that they will bum out and disconnect from the second conductor member in response to the application of a predetermined short power pulse. The heat generated by the resistor will also cause the switch to become conductive so that the next conductor and resistor in the series will be connected to the pulse source. However, because the predetermined power pulse is short, the pulse will have passed before the next conductor and resistor is connected. The next resistor will not be consumed until the next power pulse.
There are a wide variety of uses for such a resistor array. One such use is associated with the aforementioned scent storage device, where the array may be used to selectively activate predetermined portions of a scent material supply formed from a solid material, such as wax, and a scent material. Heat from a resistor will melt the wax in the portion of the scent material associated with the resistor and release the scent material. Other uses include tickets and counters. Here, heat from the resistors may be used to create visual feedback, such as the discoloration of predetermined portions of the ticket, which indicates how may times the ticket has been xe2x80x9cpunched.xe2x80x9d
The above described and many other features and attendant advantages of the present inventions will become apparent as the inventions become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.